According to Russia's top diplomat, Trump is interested in bringing relations with Russia back to normal

Donald Trump

MOSCOW, September 1. /TASS/. The US Congress has been forcing President Donald Trump to impose sanctions against Russia in order to undermine his administration, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during his speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

According to him, after the meeting between the Russian and US presidents, "it became clearer that President Trump, as he said many times after the meeting - was interested in bringing relations with Russia back to normal."

"This is a mutual goal, since we share this position. We are ready to move forward at a speed that would be convenient for the Trump administration," the Russian top diplomat noted.

"We understand that efforts are being made to corner them [the Trump administration] at every opportunity, so we don’t believe it is necessary to take any active steps concerning relations with the US," Lavrov went on to say.

"We understand that there are forces that simply want to undermine the administration. This is our standpoint on the sanctions that Congress has been forcing on Donald Trump," the Russian foreign minister added.

Lavrov also said that the sanctions bill passed by the Congress is aimed more at Trump than at Russia, as US legislators seek to prevent him from fully using his constitutional powers as far as foreign policy goes.

Russia’s top envoy added that a response to hostile actions should be taken in a way that would not damage one’s own interests.
"At the same time, we will furnish tough responses to moves that inflict damage out of nothing and are based only on someone’s wish to ruin our relations with the United States," Lavrov pointed out.